BUFFALO — There was no crisis of confidence for Patrik Laine to make public this time around and no harsh self-criticism about his level of play required when he spoke to reporters following the morning skate.

All Laine needed was a quick discussion with Nikolaj Ehlers about how long their respective goal-scoring droughts had actually stretched to.

It didn’t Laine take long for the words to turn into action, as his long wrister on a Winnipeg Jets power play snapped his longest goal-scoring drought of the season at seven games and opened the scoring in what turned into a 7-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday at KeyBank Center.

“We knew how many games we had (gone) without a goal. When we started to talk about it, both got goals. Maybe we should talk like that often,” said Laine, who is up to 19 goals and 36 points in 44 games this season. “It felt good to score again. It was a huge goal for our team to capitalize on the power play right away. It was a weird game. Lots of goals and we allowed a couple of goals that we shouldn’t. But it was a good win.”

As for Ehlers, his sights were definitely dialled in on that spot just under the crossbar high to the glove side.

By hitting that target on two separate occasions, Ehlers delivered his first goals in nine games — ending what tied his longest drought of the campaign.

To suggest this was a snapping-the-slump situation would be a stretch, since Laine had six assists during the stretch and Ehlers had five.

“I honestly didn’t even know. (Laine) knew. He told me,” said Ehlers, who is tied with Laine for the team lead in goals. “We played a good game (but) the last period (was) not great.”

The Jets, who improved to 26-11-7, play games against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday and Minnesota Wild on Saturday to end this three-game trip.

After building a 6-2 lead, the Jets got loose defensively and coasted a bit to the finish line, allowing the Sabres to score a pair and make things interesting before Joel Armia salted the game away with an empty-net goal.

“We did a lot of really good things in the first period. The second period was great as well. We did enough to hang on there,” Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. “After the game was 6-2, I didn’t like our game at all. There’s always something to get better at.”

So, how do you fight that natural reaction to let down after building a big lead?

“We stopped playing. We let them back into the game and it’s exactly what we talked about not doing,” Ehlers said. “So, it’s something we need to look at.”

Both Laine and Kyle Connor spent the final 10 minutes or so of Sunday’s 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks as spectators and both players responded well to the teachable moment.

Laine had a goal, while Connor had a pair of goals and an assist to get him to 15 goals and 28 points in 38 games.

Dustin Byfuglien had the other goal for the Jets, his second in three games after needing 30 to score his first of the campaign.

There was a scary moment for the Jets during the third period, as Wheeler fell to the ice in pain after blocking a shot from Sabres defenceman Nathan Beaulieu with his right hand.

Wheeler went straight down the tunnel after getting back to his feet.

With top centre Mark Scheifele on the shelf for an extended period of time with a suspected shoulder injury, the Jets can ill afford to lose Wheeler, who has filled in admirably after moving to the middle.

But Wheeler didn’t miss a shift and finished the contest with two assists.

“My hands are nice, don’t you think? It’s fine, thanks,” said Wheeler, responding to a question about the shot he blocked. “I can’t tell you where it caught me. A slapshot to the hand doesn’t feel great, but nah, nothing serious. No problems.”

Jets backup goalie Steve Mason got the nod between the pipes, starting for just the third time since suffering a concussion in a game against the Sharks on Nov. 25.

The numbers weren’t flattering, as Mason allowed four goals on 34 shots on goal, but he was able to deliver his third win in 11 appearances this season — and first since Nov. 22.

“Even though there were four goals scored, I felt pretty strong back there. I just tried to come in and finally get a win. It’s been a while, so it’s nice to be part of a victory from the ice,” Mason said. “It was nice to get the goal support. That made it easy for me to settle back into a rhythm. After not playing a whole lot, it’s kind of tough to find your groove, but when you have that support, it allows you to be a little more calm and work your way back into the game.

“Any time you get a big lead, sometimes things can get a bit sloppy, but I would have liked to come up with some more saves to keep the goal total down. But at the end of the day, the two points are all that matters and it was nice to get (a win) here.”

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